Surprise, surprise: The Celtics have entered the Goran Dragic sweepstakes.

According to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, C’s president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has placed a call to his former assistant general manager, Phoenix Suns GM Ryan McDonough, about the NBA’s reigning Most Improved Player.

ESPN sources say Celtics emerging as contender on the outside for Goran Dragic in trade with Phoenix

Dragic, who is expected to decline his $7.5 million player option for the 2015-16 season, has alerted the Suns he will not re-sign in Phoneix come July, per USA TODAY’s Sam Amick. Given the team’s wealth of point guards after signing Isaiah Thomas and Eric Bledsoe for a combined $97 million this past summer, McDonough is reportedly seeking to trade Dragic by Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.

Enter Ainge, who has enough draft picks, expiring contracts and affordable young talent to join any trade discussion. But how much are the Celtics willing to pay for a 28-year-old point guard who can walk in June? (See: Rondo, Rajon.)

Granted, Dragic is coming off a Third Team All-NBA season and has 9,118 fewer NBA minutes on his legs than the 28-year-old point guard they traded two months ago — not to mention an entirely different skill-set than Rondo — but Ainge will have to compete with a host of other teams for the Slovenian’s services, including reported suitors in the Heat, Kings, Knicks, Lakers, Pacers and Rockets. Ainge’s familiarity with McDonough, which led to the exchange of Brandan Wright for draft picks last month, can’t hurt in that regard.

Would Brandon Bass‘ $6.9 million expiring contract and pick(s) be enough to land Dragic? Or would the C’s have to include Kelly Olynyk or another burgeoning young talent? The Suns, who currently lead the Thunder by a half-game for the Western Conference’s eighth playoff seed, could use another floor-spacing big man after losing veteran locker room favorite Channing Frye to the Magic in free agency.

Additionally, the Celtics must determine whether the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Dragic — a willing defender and brilliant playmaker who submitted a remarkable statistical season in 2013-14 (20.3 points, 5.9 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 35.1 minutes per game while producing a 60.4 true shooting percentage and 21.4 player efficiency rating) — could coexist with Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley in the backcourt. (Unless, of course, either Smart or Bradley is shipped back to Phoenix in exchange for Dragic). The feeling here is that Dragic and the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Smart could wreak the same kind of havoc Dragic and Bledsoe did during the Suns’ 48-win campaign last season.

According to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Dragic has included the Los Angeles Lakers, New York and Miami among his list of preferred landing spots, demonstrating a willingness to re-sign with a team currently out of championship contention, but it’s unclear whether he’d be open to staying in Boston. Dragic’s agent, Bill Duffy, also represents Rondo, whose desire to test free agency led to his trade. Just as with Rondo, though, the C’s — or any organization acquiring Dragic — could offer an additional year and roughly $25 million more on the open market. With the NBA’s new television deal expected to increase the salary cap in 2016, Dragic could command a max contract this summer.

For more on the impending trade deadline decisions Ainge faces, click here.

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A major theme of the rebuilding Celtics has been that no player is safe from being traded for the betterment of the team ‘ something Danny Ainge has shown the willingness to do throughout his career (and now once again by trading Rajon Rondo). Here are some trades that make sense for the mess that is the Boston Celtics. Again, these specific trades are not rumors, simply ideas. This is part seven.

No doubt Ainge would love to shed an expiring contract or two in the form of Brandon Bass, Tayshaun Prince or Marcus Thornton. However, contenders have yet to come calling for the services of Boston’s veteran pieces. But maybe Ainge can use one of those contracts — along with one of his accumulated draft picks — to add a young talent that’s potentially now available.

Bass is in this deal simply to make the money match, but it achieves Ainge’s goal of moving an expiring veteran. The important part of the deal, however, is Kanter’s contract. He too is expiring at season’s end and there is no chance the Celtics would risk sending a first-rounder to Utah without assurance that Kanter has interest in remaining in Boston. For the sake of making the trade idea work, let’s say Kanter approves of being a Celtic past 2015.

Tyler Zeller (9.6 points, 5.5 rebounds) has had a solid season, but he is certainly not the starting center of the future. Kanter, who recently told reporters that he hopes to be traded, has the potential to be a valuable piece long-term. The former No. 3 overall pick is averaging 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds while playing 27.1 minutes per game so far this season — those numbers would be an immediate upgrade at the center spot.

Kanter is still just 22-years old, though. Ainge’s hope in making the deal would be that his new young big would make a smooth transition to Boston and continue to grow his numbers in upcoming seasons. There’s a risk involved for the Celtics in giving up a first-round pick, but the risk could prove worth the reward if Kanter develops into Boston’s future center. After all, Ainge didn’t accumulate all these picks to use each of them. At some point some of them have to be moved for talent that can provide an instant impact.

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It’s been exactly one month since the Celtics finalized the Jeff Green trade — completing a series of deals that also sent Rajon Rondo packing — and yet they’re playing their best basketball of the season. After losing three straight immediately following their leading scorer’s departure, the C’s have won seven of their last 12 games to enter the All-Star break trailing the Hornets and Heat by only one loss for the Eastern Conference’s final two postseason spots.

Despite a 20-31 record, the Celtics are in the playoff conversation. Seriously.

“It’s always been a conversation, since Day 1,” said Marcus Thornton, whose 14 points helped ground the Hawks on Wednesday night. “I believe we can make it, and I believe we can make noise, too, so it’s on us to make that happen.”

Except, some of the current C’s weren’t here when the season began — namely rotation players Jae Crowder and Tayshaun Prince — and not all of them are expected to be around when the team reconvenes for the second half in Sacramento some 24 hours after the league’s Feb. 19 trade deadline.

So, Jared Sullinger can decry all he wants, “It’s the All-Star break; that’s the last thing on our mind,” but the harsh reality is this team that appears to be just hitting its stride could look completely different in a week.

“I’m going to use that time to take off and kind of forget about basketball a little bit,” Thornton said when asked about an eight-day vacation leading up to the trade deadline, “but wherever I’m at, I’m ready to go.”

Thornton’s $8.6 million expiring contract and scoring prowess (team-high 19.6 points per 36 minutes and 41.9 percent 3-point shooting) make him attractive trade bait for a team looking to bolster its playoff roster this spring and clear cap space over the summer. Same goes for Prince and Brandon Bass, a pair of veterans who respectively carry $7.7 million and $6.9 million price tags while still proving productive on the court.

“My teammates are great,” added Thornton, 27, who’s already on the record saying he’d like to stay in Boston. “We’re young. I’m kinda like old here on this team, which I don’t like to say, so none of y’all better not say it, either. But it’s great. The way we interact with each other is great. It’s one of the funnest teams I’ve been on.”

It’s a chemistry Brad Stevens has somehow concocted despite constant uncertainty throughout his two-year tenure. And while the Celtics coach would like to see his current team stick together for the final two months, he also knows Danny Ainge & Co. in the front office aren’t all that concerned about the here and now.

“Certainly, I’d love for us to have as little movement as possible,” said Stevens, “but I understand those guys will do their jobs, and they’ll take everything and look at it and figure out how best to move forward with our team, especially with 30-some-odd games left. I think that we have built momentum and have a good group of young guys that are — like I talked about before with Atlanta — figuring out how to be stars in their roles, and I think that’s the key. And that’s why I think we’ve been able to have a little bit of success here and there.”

Ainge has turned his coach into a real-life Sisyphus, and if another set of trades sends the Celtics careening down the hill again, Stevens will begin anew his mission to carry Boston back up that NBA mountain.

“We’ll figure it out depending on what happens in the next week,” added Stevens. “I really like these guys. They’re a good group of guys. They work hard, and you see a lot of growth in a lot of them.”

Having won three of their last four games, the Celtics looked to stay hot in their final game before entering the All-Star break. Unfortunately for Brad Stevens and company, the first place Hawks were on the other side of things.

But after a roller coaster of a game, the Celtics somehow prevailed 89-88 on an Evan Turner buzzer beater. After a crazy fourth quarter — and a game that saw the Celtics trail by as many as 18 — Boston found themselves down just one with only 6.3 seconds left. Then, on a play that appeared to be nothing like Stevens drew it up, Turner drove into the lane and splashed in a floater. Swish. Celtics win.

Jared Sullinger led the way for Boston (20-31) with 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Turner racked up 12 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Marcus Thornton also contributed 14 points off the bench. Al Horford led the Hawks (43-11) with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Don’t look now, but the C’s are now 7-5 over their last 12 games and are poised to continue their playoff push after the break.

In a season of inconsistencies, it seems the Celtics have come out just that way every game. There are no steady first quarters, only very good ones and very bad ones. Wednesday’s first quarter was a bad one. The Celtics scored a mere 13 points and shot only 18.5 percent from the field (5-for-27 FGs). Atlanta didn’t shoot the lights out, but after a 9-0 start to the game the Hawks managed 23 points on 52.9 percent shooting in the quarter (9-for-17 FGs).

HORRIBLE SHOOTING

The Celtics went on to shoot 31.8 percent in the second quarter (7-for-22 FGs). This raised their shooting percentage up to 24.5 for the first half — the lowest the Hawks have held an opponent in any half this season. For reference, the C’s have only shot under 30 percent for an entire game five times since 1985, the last time being in 2004.

INCREDIBLE COMEBACK

After trailing by as many as 18 points and shooting only 32.3 percent for the game, the Celtics somehow pulled out a victory over the Eastern Conference’s finest. This was the definition of winning ugly, but the C’s proceeded to grind one out in a low scoring game that had everyone saying: “How did they win this game?”

BEST WIN OF THE SEASON

This one is self explanatory. Stealing a game before the All-Star break against the best team in the Conference on a buzzer beater takes the cake for best win of the first half of the season. It wasn’t as convincing as some others, but the C’s have to feel good about themselves heading into the break after this one.

MARCUS SMART SAW HIS MINUTES CUT

In the previous four games that Smart started at point guard he had played a minimum of 36 minutes. Stevens said it was easy to give to rookie so much playing time since he was so comfortable with Smart’s defensive presence. But perhaps the presence of Jeff Teague — who has been one of the best guards in the NBA this season — led Stevens to shy away from leaning so heavily on Smart. Smart only played 26 minutes against the Hawks, but tallied 11 points to go with three assists and two rebounds.